Japan Today and Its Economic Importance to Indiana, Asia, and the Globe


Speaker Biographies


Opening Remarks:

The Honorable Mitch Daniels
Governor
State of Indiana

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. was elected as the 49th Governor of the State of Indiana in 2004, in his first bid for any elected office.

Under the Governor’s leadership, Indiana has seen improvements to the state’s infrastructure resulting from the $4 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road, the largest privatization of public infrastructure in the United States to date. In 2005, he created the public-private Indiana Economic Development Corporation, tasked with attracting new jobs to the state. As a result, the state is near the top of every national ranking for business attractiveness. Daniels has also spearheaded major reforms to enhance the performance of state government, including focused efforts to improve the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Department of Child Services, and Department of Corrections.
Many organizations have recognized the governor’s leadership. In October 2010, Daniels received The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation‘s Inaugural Medal for Distinguished Service to Education for efforts to reform education, including improvements to teacher preparation. In January 2011, the governor was one of three recipients selected to receive the first-ever Fiscy Award, presented for leadership and commitment to responsible financial stewardship by the non-partisan Fiscy Awards Committee. That summer, Daniels received the “Real Leader Award” by the national state budget watchdog group State Budget Solutions, which honored Indiana for its fiscal stewardship, long-term financial stability and use of reality-based budgeting. Daniels also received the “2011 Friend of the Family Award” from the Indiana Family Institute, who recognized the governor for his strong record of pro-family, pro-life and pro-faith actions taken as Indiana’s chief executive.

Prior to his governorship, Daniels had a successful career in business and government, holding numerous top management positions at the Hudson Institute and Eli Lilly. He also has served as Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Lugar, Senior Advisor to President Ronald Reagan and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush.

Daniels earned a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1971 and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1979.   Governor Daniels and his wife Cheri have four daughters: Meagan, Melissa, Meredith and Maggie.

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Keynote Address:

His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America

“It's great to be back in this great country at a great moment,” Ichiro Fujisaki quipped when he started his duties as the Ambassador of Japan to the United States in June 2008. He has served as the political minister of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, from 1995-99. His association with the United States goes back even further. It started with a year in the early 1960’s as a junior high school student in Seattle, Washington. He also studied one year each at Brown University and Stanford University Graduate School in the early 1970’s. As a diplomat, he has also served in Jakarta, Paris (OECD), and London. Prior to his current post, he served as Ambassador to the UN and to the WTO in Geneva. While there, he served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees).

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, he has held such posts as Deputy Director-General for Asian Affairs and Director-General for North American Affairs before being appointed as the Deputy Foreign Minister. He has also served as the Sherpa, or the personal representative, of the Prime Minister to G8 Summit meetings.

His wife Yoriko attended kindergarten at Ben Murch in Washington, DC. Their two daughters also attended school in the Washington area. The elder daughter Mari graduated from Stone Ridge High School in Bethesda, MD. The younger daughter Emi studied at the same school as well as at Somerset Elementary School in Montgomery County, MD. Both daughters now work as journalists in Japan.

Fujisaki was a research associate at IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies) in London from 1987-88. He taught as a lecturer of International Relations at Sophia University in Tokyo from 1991-95. Since his arrival, he has spoken at many universities and think-tanks.

During his tenure, Fujisaki aims to visit as many states, cities, and places as possible. “I enjoy meeting new people. I also know well that important as it may be, ‘inside the beltway’ is only one part of this great country,” he says.
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Panel 1: "U.S.-Japan-Asia Economic Overview"

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Ellen Frost
Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
and National Defense University

Ellen Frost, visiting fellow since 2004 and previously senior fellow (1991–93, 1995–98), is an adjunct research fellow at the National Defense University's Institute of National Strategic Studies. Her most recent book is Asia's New Regionalism (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008), which describes the resurgence of maritime Asia, analyzes the Asian integration movement, assesses China's growing regional influence, and derives implications for US policy.

Frost served in the US government as Counselor to the US Trade Representative (1993–95), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Economic and Technology Affairs (1977-81), in various positions in the Treasury Department (1974–77) and the State Department

(1963), and as a legislative assistant in the US Senate (1972–74). During the 1980s she worked for two multinational corporations. In addition to her new book, she is the author of For Richer, For Poorer: The New US-Japan Relationship (Council on Foreign Relations, 1987), Transatlantic Trade: A Strategic Agenda (1997), and numerous articles. She was also coeditor of The Global Century: Globalization and National Security (University Press of the Pacific, 2001).

Frost is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, US committee of CSCAP (Council on Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific), and the Public Diplomacy Council. In 2002-04 she was a member of the National Commission on US-Indonesian Relations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1945, Frost received a PhD from the Department of Government at Harvard University, where she specialized in the politics and foreign policy of China; an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and a BA from Radcliffe College.
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Kiyoaki "Kiyo" Aburaki
Keidanren-Japan Business Federation

Kiyo Aburaki is the U.S. Representative of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and the 21st Century Public Policy Institute (21PPI), a think tank affiliated with Keidanren. Mr. Aburaki is also a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

In his current capacity, Mr. Aburaki co-directed a CSIS task force, the “Partnership for Recovery and a Stronger Future; Standing with Japan after 3/11.” In concert with Keidanren, the CSIS taskforce produced a report in November 2011 on Japan’s restoration and stronger U.S.-Japan relations. This report covers important areas such as disaster preparedness, economic growth, and energy strategy.

Mr. Aburaki is also playing leading roles for a CSIS-21PPI joint project, “China’s Competitiveness; Myths, Realities and Lessons for the U.S. and Japan.” The project aims to make objective assessments of Chinese competitiveness in such areas as PV panels and PCs and Chinese reliance on U.S. and Japanese capabilities. The final report, which will identify viable U.S. and Japanese policies and strategies to achieve sound developments of U.S.-Japan-China economic relations, will be published by the end of this year. He is a co-author of a CSIS report published in November 2010, “Green Dragons; the Politics of Climate Change in Asia,” and an author of an upcoming paper titled “Three Steps toward Full Partnership; the future of U.S.-Japan Defense Industrial Collaboration.”

Before moved to Washington, D.C. in fall 2010, Mr. Aburaki played various roles at Keidanren Headquarters, which includes political strategy, information technology, technological competitiveness and international trade and investment.

Mr. Aburaki obtained a Master of Science in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Keio University in 1989. Mr. Aburaki’s master thesis to MIT, “Institutions that can help innovation: Firms’ external reliance and technological innovation in the U.S. and Japan,” was published in Japan with his updated research results.

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Harrison C. Cook
Vice President, International Government Affairs
Eli Lilly and Company, Washington D.C.

Mr. Cook joined Lilly in August 2003 as the International Government Affairs Manager for Japan and was responsible for developing and implementing all Lilly’s Washington D.C. government affairs strategies on clinical, regulatory and pricing policy issues for Japan.  In April 2005, he became Director for Japan and Asia Pacific, extending his responsibility to China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Australia and the other major Asia Pacific markets.  In August 2009, he was promoted to Vice President of International Government affairs, and now oversees all the company’s engagements with the U.S. and foreign governments on all trade-related issues.  He also maintains primary responsibility for the Asian markets.  He is active on all PhRMA’s Japan and Asia Pacific committees, and chairs the Japan Committee, Taiwan Task Force and China Data Protection Work Group.

Mr. Cook was previously the Chief of Deregulation and Trade Policy in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Japan.  In that role, he was the lead technical negotiator with Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare regarding pharmaceutical and medical device reimbursement and regulatory issues.  Mr. Cook negotiated five agreements with the Ministry and received a number of awards from the Department for his work.  Mr. Cook was also the principle staff person responsible for developing and implementing the Department’s overall Japan trade policy.

Mr. Cook is a long-time student of Japan, and is a board member of the National Association of Japan-America Societies.  Mr. Cook is an active martial artist.  He earned an MA in International Relations from Ritumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan as well as an MA in International Relations from the American University in Washington, D.C.  During graduate school he worked as an intern at USTR’s Office of Japan as well as at the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan.  His BA is in East Asian Studies and Psychology from Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT.

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Daniel P. Adrich
AAAS Fellow at United States Agency for International Development
Associate Professor of Political Science, Purdue University

Daniel P. Aldrich received his Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Harvard University, an M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Daniel has focused on the ways in which state agencies interact with contentious civil society over the siting of controversial facilities such as nuclear power plants, airports, and dams. His current research investigates how neighborhoods and communities recover from disasters. He has published a number of peer-reviewed articles along with research for general audiences. His research has been funded by grants from the Abe Foundation, IIE Fulbright Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Reischauer Institute at Harvard University, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and Harvard’s Center for European Studies.

He has been a visiting scholar at the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the Institute for Social Science at Tokyo University, Harvard University, the Tata Institute for Social Science in Mumbai, the Institut d’etudes politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has spent more than three years conducting fieldwork in Japan, India and France.

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Panel 2: "Manufacturing Perspectives"

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David Thomas
Plant Manager
Keihin North America

Dave Thomas attended Indiana University/Purdue University of Indianapolis. Mr. Thomas joined Keihin in 1996, spending eight years at Keihin Indiana Precision Technology, Inc. (KIPT), eventually becoming Assistant Vice President. He spent three years in North Carolina as Vice President and Plant Manager at Keihin Carolina System Technology, Inc (KCST). From 2007 to April 2009, Mr. Thomas had been Vice President of Keihin Michigan Manufacturing LLC (KMM). From 2009 to 2011, he was Vice President of N.A. Materials Procurement with the Keihin N.A. (KNA) headquarters. Currently, Dave is the Plant Manager of Keihin IPT Mfg., LLC in Greenfield, Indiana.  A native of Indianapolis, Mr. Thomas describes himself as a huge I.U. basketball fan.

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Jason Puckett
General Manager of Production Control
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana

As General Manager of Production Control, Jason supports the overall production at TMMI.  This includes all aspects of the production operation, production planning, new model management, direct/indirect ordering, service parts planning, supply chain management and logistics/packaging.

Joining TMMI in 1997, Jason was an Assembly engineer responsible for many aspects of the new plant startup.  In 1999, he assumed a lead Assembly role of pre-production activity involving the new Sequoia full size sport utility. In 2002, Jason helped launch the Sienna minivan in our new East Plant and served as Manager for 4 years before transitioning into Production Control in 2006.

Before joining TMMI in 1997, Jason was a process engineer for Ford Motor Company where he oversaw capital expenditures for assembly and machining areas to improve safety, quality and productivity.

Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Evansville.

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Andy Snider
Business Division Manager
Honda Manufacturing of Indiana

Andy Snider is the Business Division Manager for Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC (HMIN). Snider joined HMIN on June 15, 2006.
           
As the Business Division Manager, Snider provides overall operational leadership for HMIN’s business division departments including accounting & finance, administration, information services, company planning, facilities and corporate affairs.

Before joining HMIN, Snider served nine years at Honda of America Manufacturing, (HAM) in Ohio.   His career with Honda included an assignment as the plant accountant at the Marysville Auto Plant (MAP) where he was responsible for the budget, cost control and new model cost. He has

also held various assignments within HAM ranging from fixed assets to profit management and inventory control.

Before joining Honda in 1997, Snider worked as an auditor at KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP in Columbus, Ohio.

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Kim Hill
Director, Sustainability and Economic Development Strategies Group
Director, Automotive Communities Program
Associate Director, Research

Center for Automotive Research

Kim Hill is the Director of the Sustainability and Economic Development Strategies Group (SEDS) at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  He is also responsible for directing the Automotive Communities Partnership (ACP).  The ACP is a program aimed at helping governments and public sector officials in communities across the upper Midwest and Canada understand, adapt, and interact with the ever-changing North American and global automotive industry. 

Mr. Hill’s work with CAR has long focused on economic and business modeling, for the purpose of public policy analysis. As Director of the Sustainability and Economic Development Strategies Group, he is focusing on sustainable solutions for communities whose traditional auto sector is undergoing unprecedented restructuring. 

Mr. Hill is also CAR’s lead investigator on economic impact analyses.  These analyses estimate employment and economic impacts on the national and state economies that result from automotive industry and transportation sector activities.

Mr. Hill has previously worked on the staff of the City Administrator’s Office with the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the Center for Environmental Policy, Economics, and Science, and for CFI Group, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, before joining CAR.

Mr. Hill received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.


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